I would agree with your decorator. Think of adding warmth and texture through the layering of your accessories , your wall art, creating visual interest other than on top of your windows. I would think the valances would interfere with the opening of the plantation shutters.

Valances wouldn't work very well, but you can add drapery panels if you really need additional fabric in the room. Just make sure you have enough space to stack the panels so they are completely out of the way of the shutters.

I'm in agreement with those who say valences would interfere, and just not look right. I have seen simple, straight panels done with plantation shutters, though, that looked attractive. They were stacked neatly on each side of the window, lending some softness and color to the room that matched other accessories.

We had plantation shutters in every room in our previous home (we are currently building a new one.) In most rooms, I didn't do additional treatments. In the formal dining and living rooms, I did gorgeous silk draperies hung about a foot above the top of the window casing with wrought iron rods and finials. They hung to the sides and didn't interfere at all. In my son's room, I wanted to add some color, so I had valances made that hung from a board (so the valances were "soft" as opposed to fabric directly on a board over batting, if that makes sense.) They looked very nice and didn't impact the functionality of opening and closing the louvers BUT when I wanted to open the shutters to get to the window, the top of the open shutter would "catch" on the bottom of the valance and a couple of times I actually knocked the whole valance down. So I wouldn't recommend it, generally. But it did look nice!

Drat, I was afraid of that. Hmmmmm, I don't know what to do. These windows are original to the house from 1952....it's a lake cottage we have been renovating. The windows have noooooo depth. I've considered wooden blinds and even the honeycomb type shades, but both of those would have to an outside mount and then the window ledge is not wide enough for them to even rest on. I don't even think mini blinds would work. That's why it seems that plantation shutters may be my only option. But I WANT VALANCES, TOO! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Thank you all for your opinions. I appreciate it.

pup

Hmmmm, I had no idea it "wasn't done".

Not the best picture but that valance is over plantation shutters and doesn't interfere at all.

The rod extends about 4" out from the wall. I've also hung the valance right under the crown moulding and made it so that just the top of the window was covered.

[IMG]http://i453.photobucket.com/albums/qq253/FluffFun/Dawn/013.jpg[/IMG]

Hmmmm I also can't remember how to post a picture. ;) Sorry.

Let's see if this works:

http://s453.photobucket.com/albums/qq253/FluffFun/Dawn/?action=view&current=013.jpg

Here's a better picture:

I only open these shutters fully to wash the windows a few a times a year. If I was opening them daily it would be a bit of a pain.

Dawn, that's exactly how my son's valances looked. They look great, but for me it was a pain because we often wanted to open the window for ventilation. If you didn't need to open the window, you could just take the valance down for semi-annual window cleaning.

Those are 9' ceilings so I stand on the counter when I'm doing a good clean .... since I'm up there it's easy to just adjust the valance but I certainly couldn't do that every day.

By now you may not even live in the same house, but if you hang the valance on swing rods (half on each rod half) you will be able to swing open the shutters. You could also hang a valance w Roman shade mechanics above the frame so you could raise the valance when you want to swing open the shutters. Another option is to hang above the frame a valance made from tailored or raw edge strips of fabric. You would be able to swing the shutters open and still have the valance in place.

Bedrooms generally aren’t rooms lacking in the softness that fabrics add, since the main feature of the room is a bed which is usually laden with fabrics. I get the sense that you might not actually like shutters if you immediately think they all need softening or covering.